Issue link: https://www.ascpskindeepdigital.com/i/97199
ascp and you: finer points Looking Into the Mirror Who are we as estheticians? by Susanne Schmaling With more than 12,000 members of Associated Skin Care Professionals (ASCP), there is obviously a lot of diversity among the estheticians we serve, but also much common ground. With that in mind, I thought it would be interesting to actually look at who estheticians are as professionals. Professional skin care practitioners can have so many different job titles. A few you may have heard, or perhaps used for yourself at some point in your career, include beauty therapist, clinical or medical esthetician, facialist, master esthetician, and skin care therapist. Each state has a different definition, and there isn���t even any standard on whether the same job title should be spelled ���aesthetician��� or ���esthetician��� (for ASCP���s publications, we decided on the latter). This fragmentation can be very confusing, not only within the profession but also for clients. Knowing Who You Are The reality is that your job title is whichever one the state puts on your license. This is how your clients understand what you do and how the state regulates your scope of practice. It is actually against the law in some states to use a title that is not recognized by the state board. Broadly speaking, we all do the same thing, though some of us may specialize in one area or provide services to a certain niche. Each of us has developed our elevator speech for the times when we need to quickly explain to someone what we do for a living. My elevator speech relies on a definition of what I do: ���An esthetician is a licensed professional who is an expert on maintaining and improving healthy skin.��� Regardless of your job title or background, there are some things we all have in common. your job title is whichever one the state puts on your license. This is how your clients Licensing We are all licensed by the state we work in. Becoming licensed, and staying that way, is not an easy process. The fact that we are licensed professionals should be taken seriously, both within the profession and among the public we serve. Expertise We are experts based on the amount of education we receive at the basic licensing level, and that expertise is further expanded by advanced education after licensing is achieved. A professional always strives for more knowledge and never feels that he or she knows everything. 34ASCP Skin Deep The reality is that January/February 2013 understand what you do and how the state regulates your scope of practice.